Christian Horner is experiencing the best start to a season since he took on the role of team principal at Red Bull in 2005. Five races, five victories, including four one-two finishes. It’s been a dream period, but there’s a matter that bothers him quite a bit.
The restructuring program of AlphaTauri mainly involves the appointment of a new team principal to replace Franz Tost, namely Laurent Mekies, whose new role was officially announced on April 26th.
The decision to announce the hiring of Ferrari’s current sporting director was seen as a slight against the Scuderia, later justified by the need to make the news public before it leaked to the media.
For Ferrari, it was indeed an embarrassing situation, as they passively received the Red Bull’s initiative to announce the hiring of one of their employees without being informed in advance.
However, the scenario has changed after a few weeks. The decision to make Laurent Mekies’ hiring by Red Bull official has backfired because, in fact, the French engineer is still under contract with Ferrari and could remain there longer than expected, as reported by Motorsport Italy earlier today.
“The reason why discussions are still ongoing is probably due to the need for more time to talk to each other,” commented the French manager regarding the ongoing negotiations between Ferrari and Red Bull, “and that’s what they are doing now. I am confident that a solution can be reached that will satisfy both parties.”
After overcoming the initial embarrassment, Ferrari has decided not to make any concessions to Red Bull, and the roles have effectively reversed. Now it is the Scuderia that holds Horner hostage, dictating the terms. The counterpart is quite clear: Red Bull must release some of its technicians interested in joining Maranello, otherwise Laurent Mekies will stay where he is. According to rumors circulating in the Monte Carlo paddock, he could remain there for a long time, disrupting Red Bull’s plans of having the French engineer operational in time to plan the 2024 season effectively.
A conversation between Christian Horner and John Elkann, who was present in Monte Carlo yesterday, did not go unnoticed, and it has been speculated that overcoming the deadlock between the two parties was one of the topics discussed.
Red Bull does not want to release the technicians in contact with Ferrari in time for them to be operational for the 2024 project, but at the same time, they cannot afford to wait too long for the availability of the new team principal at AlphaTauri.
“The decision has not been made yet, so as long as I wear the red uniform, my commitment will be 100% for Ferrari,” commented Laurent Mekies. “Believe me, when we step on the track with a certain badge, we only think about that team and that race weekend. And that’s how we have agreed to move forward.”
In reality, Laurent Mekies finds himself at the center of a bigger game, where his role is that of a valuable pawn. The impression is that a solution will be reached in a short time, but currently, it will be Red Bull that has to accept Ferrari’s conditions, ending up yielding in a standoff triggered by Christian Horner himself.
